Rooster Recap: ‘Justified’ 5.12 “Starvation”

Ah, they’re really gearing up to a good climax for this season of Justified. Yes, it seem they may very well be back on track after what was, at best, a rocky season. This week’s episode was classic Justified.

So, to start with, Art is still in the hospital and Kendal is in custody, having taken the fall for Daryl’s crime, so the task falls to Raylan, Tim, and Rachel to find a way to bring down the last of the Florida Crowe men. Of course, since things didn’t really pan out business-wise, Boyd and Wynn also want Daryl, and so do the Mexicans, or rather, the Mexicans want Boyd. Wynn tells them he killed Boyd after Boyd killed Picker, so they want Daryl instead. Wynn asks Boyd for help, Daryl beats up Mikey for the whereabouts of the heroin and gets it, Boyd figures the best way to get rid of Daryl and to appease the Marshals (who, as I said, also want Daryl) would be to just tell Raylan where the heroine is, and so he does and the Marshals take Boyd to the spot and stake it out, but unfortunately for them, Daryl is smarter than he looks, and coerces Wendy into going to collect the drugs for him, on the grounds that once they sell them, they can put the money towards hiring a good lawyer for Kendal, which, because she’s desperate, she believes, and so she gets caught by the Marshals—not actually doing anything illegal, but still—and Raylan has to resort to plan B: sticking a wire on Boyd and sending him in with the heroin to catch Daryl on a sting operation, thereby getting him not for attempted murder of a federal officer, like they want, but for a lesser crime, but still, as Vasquez points out, “That’s how they got Capone.”

FX I like Vasquez.

So. The Sting. It, uh, doesn’t really go super well. Why doesn’t it go super well? Two words for you: Dewey Crowe. Ah yes, Dewey. When last we saw him, he was on the run after Danny pulled a fast one on him, but since Dewey doesn’t know when to quit, he figures he still has a shot at getting the drugs. He’s wrong. Unfortunately, he happens to arrive just after Boyd does, and while Boyd is sweet talking Daryl, using his wily ways to inspire some sort of confession out of Daryl, Dewey bursts in to take the heroin. As if that wasn’t quite enough, though, Dewey seems the need to pile on crime after crime for the Marshals to catch on tape. So, he verbally emphasizes the fact that he’s holding guns to their heads, and, as a boast, he admits to killing Wade Messer, at which point, since their operation is compromised anyway, the Marshals have to arrest Dewey. I’m actually kind of relieved he’s going back to prison. I was sort of worried he’d get killed in the real world.

FX Me too.

Now things are getting difficult for Raylan. In an act of desperation, to put further weight on Daryl and Wendy, and in an effort to get Daryl to fess up, Raylan convinces Vasquez and the Judge to try Kendal for attempted murder of a federal officer as an adult. No one’s happy about that, but it had to be done.

We’ve only got on episode left! Can’t wait, since they’re back on track again. I sure hope Art doesn’t die. I would be very unhappy about that. Oh, and things continue to go badly for Ava. Unsurprisingly. ALSO HALLELUJAH RAYLAN AND BOYD ARE TOGETHER AGAIN.